On behalf of the Historic Preservation Society, we thank everyone who helped make this year’s Mobile Historic Homes Tour a success. We especially thank the homeowners of Ashland Place who so graciously opened their historic homes for the tour, our sponsors for their financial support, and our army of volunteers who gave their time to help make the tour possible. Most of all, we would like to thank the public for coming out and supporting this long-standing event. The Mobile Historic Homes Tour is the largest fund-raiser for the Historic Mobile Preservation Society. The proceeds help us sustain Oakleigh and the Oakleigh Historic Complex. If you haven’t visited Oakleigh lately, we invite you to come for a visit this spring. MARTHA LoCICERO Historic Mobile Preservation Society RHONDA DAVIS Chairman, Historic Homes Tour Mobile

Tennessee shows wayfor Alabama on reform

Our neighbor Tennessee is one of two recipients of a huge grant for its schools. The state recently won $500 million in federal education funding. Forty states and the District of Columbia applied for this Race to the Top grant. Alabama finished 37th. Tennessee, like Alabama, historically has not ranked high in public education. In January, the governor of Tennessee proposed and the Tennessee Legislature passed a comprehensive education reform package. Much of the business community was supportive because of their belief that improvement in public education is directly related to overall economic development. The governor and legislators met with Tennessee teachers concerned about the use of test scores and their own job security, and worked out a compromise to gain their support. Alabama’s challenges are no greater and could be overcome. Our state leaders and the Alabama Education Association decided to postpone indefinitely bills that would authorize the creation of charter schools in Alabama, thereby excluding any chance of access to education grants funded in part by our own federal tax dollars. Education is a force-multiplier. Its benefits are multi-generational. It is simply wrong to waste our potential. JAMES MILTON JOHNSON Birmingham

Heartfelt thanks to vets for graveside honors

This letter is in response to a letter from Bill Atkeison of Semmes (“Graveside services done with honor,” April 3). I agree 1,000 percent with his letter concerning the graveside services done with honor. He mentioned these posts: Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 49 of Mobile, American Legion Post 250 of Fowl River and American Legion Post 164 of Citronelle. And he talked about the men and women who volunteer to go to the graveside in uniform to perform these last rites for men and women whom most of the honor guard probably never knew personally. I recently lost my father, Billy Morgan, from complications of a stroke. I was amazed by the service of the men from American Legion Post 250 of Fowl River. There are no words big enough to let those men know how much their service meant to me that day. I sat there crying like a big crybaby. When I read Mr. Atkeison’s letter, it brought all of those feelings roaring back like a thunderbolt. It does not feel like time will heal my broken heart. I miss my father just as much now as I did the very day that my baby brother called me and asked me if I was sitting down, and then told me that Daddy was gone. Those men must be pretty high up on the Lord’s roll for the work they do. I just wanted to publicly thank them for what they did for my daddy. May God keep each and every one of them and their families safe in his arms. MICHAEL LEE MORGAN Jackson Opponents of health care should see big picture

In 1935, Franklin Roosevelt signed the Social Security bill after a lot of the legislators raised a big fuss about how it was going to cost the country a fortune and eventually bankrupt the whole nation. How do I know? I was living then and well aware of the uproar it caused. Then we had another internal war with Medicare. These two bills have given our citizens a reason to live longer and hold their dignity. The county poor houses disappeared and families could even help themselves. Unless you have been in a bind from death or divorce, you can’t really understand what not having health care means. I raised four children alone and dared them to get sick for fear I couldn’t find a way to get them the care they would need. It is obvious those who are against the health care bill haven’t read it. They are being very selfish or maybe ignorant of what we can do for our fellow citizens. It is time for some of the people who live in the U.S. to shed their prejudices and their narrow-mindedness and look at the whole picture of what good can be had from a country with a healthier population. I have never had to depend on the government to pay me for anything, but it isn’t because I couldn’t have used the money. I was fortunate enough to have an education and a job to get me through. Not everyone is as lucky. MARY DALE MCCLINTOCK Mobile